Please introduce yourself and what led you to Resolution Project:
My name is Deandre Washington and I’m from Manatee County, Florida. Growing up I’ve always been inspired by my oldest siblings and their penchant for success. Between my sixteenth and seventeenth birthday I managed to graduate from high school, earn an Associate degree in Marketing Business Management & Entrepreneurship, and complete the Gamma Xi Boulé mentorship program, Journey to Success.
Back in January 2017 I was fortunate enough to establish my very own social venture organization, Project Generation Inc. We plan to generate career opportunities for all young people by providing youth development services, career pathway access and job placement training for young professionals.
My persistence and innovative vision earned myself a trip to New York, where I attended the United Nations Youth Assembly and participated in the Social Venture Challenge that positioned Project-Generation Inc to compete for a Resolution Fellowship for outstanding social ventures. I was graciously among 1,200 UN youth delegates who gathered together to discuss the Assembly’s theme “Innovation and Collaboration for a Sustainable World”.
Please introduce your venture:
Project-Generation Inc. is a nonprofit organization registered within the state of Florida working to allocate youth leadership efforts across the globe. All efforts will be geo-regionally based, environmentally conservative, and operated by elite young professional staff. We offer our members & communities safe innovative environments that are developed to enhance skill sets, technical resources, and to meet the career interests and economical needs of our constituents.
Project-Generation Inc.’s intent is to deliver cutting edge specialized services for children and young adults of all demographics and ethnicities. This includes social entrepreneurs, students, scholars, at-risk youth, and leaders throughout the global community. Our overall goal is to establish a much better understanding of children and young adults from a learning and innovative perspective by demonstrating equal success opportunities for all global citizens.
How have you been adapting to the circumstances of the pandemic?:
Adapting to the many changes that the pandemic created was tough. After being temporarily unemployed during massive pandemic employment layoffs, I decided to take my efforts with Project-Generation Inc. to the next level by working on the social venture full-time. This decision truly increased my understanding that young leaders have the ability to not only make long-lasting positive impact in our communities but an even bigger impact for the global citizens we serve. Following the successful launch of our pilot program StartFresh Health & Wellness back in 2020, Project-Generation Inc was also nominated and recognized for the Roddenberry Fellowship Award by members of the Resolution Project.
What has been your biggest challenge in founding your social venture and how have you overcome this?
A major challenge in founding my social venture over the years has been the ability to establish facilitation with programming and service delivery. As young entrepreneurs, our resources are limited if we allow them to be. Being a part of the Resolution Project has created an environment for myself and other Fellows that enables solutions to these kinds of challenges.
What role do young leaders play in the world today?
Take the known story of David in the bible as an example. Although he was one of the youngest in his nation, his characteristics of being righteous, fearless, and compassionate to those he loved proved that being a true leader took more than his age, experience, or seniority status. In fact, it took innovative thinking and his innate ability to inspirationally uplift those around him. Young leaders all across this world play this very vital role in their own communities.
What advice would you give to other young leaders who are looking to start their first social venture?
First, understand that being challenged throughout your life is a blessing, always remember starting a social venture is about being an agent of positive change that is willing to endure those challenges and share your outcomes with individuals and communities who may not be willing or capable of overcoming their own. Most importantly have patience while embracing every milestone with integrity, understanding, and gratitude.
Can you speak on how your venture has impacted those who you’ve aimed to serve? How has Resolution contributed to this impact?
Project-Generation Inc. firmly believes that strategically positioning young professionals with a multitude of platforms to render long-term career success is essential to establishing qualitative changes in one’s access to innovative education. These changes are needed to increase efficiency and improve the quality and equity of learning opportunities for youth who are underserved and economically disadvantaged.
Our organization’s role in educational empowerment will foster the most efficient and effective potential innovations from industries around the world. Resolution Project has contributed so much to Project-Generation Inc over the years and so much to me as well. From always being champions of our efforts, while helping to establish realistic goals for our organization’s leadership to ascertain. They’ve created an opportunity for Project-Generation Inc. to be seen on a multitude of levels and for that we are forever grateful and thankful to the Resolution Project and its leadership for their commitment to young people across the globe.
